Apparatus for correcting foot crookednesses.



v 0. SEMBLE-DER. APPARATUS FOR CORRECTING FOOT GROOKEDNESSES.APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1912.

1 1 1 4,389. A a nted; Oct. 20, 1914.

HE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO-LITH-L WASHINGTON, D c.

' nnrrnn STATES PATENT or OSKAR sEMELnnna, or yimvivii, AUSTRIA-HUNGAR$ARA -ares r03 comm -Fm csooiinnniissns.

To all whom it may concern: I i

Be it known thatT, OsKAu SEMELEDER, medicine doctor, a subject of theAustro- Hungarian Emperor, residing at V. .Franzensgasse 24;, Vienna, inthe Empireof Austria-Hungary, have invented'an Improved ,Apparatus forCorrecting Foot Crookednesses, of which the following is aspecification.

I have found that the flat-foot arises not only, as it is hithertosuggested, simply by pressing down the foot vault, but also bydistortion of the leg relatively to the foot around an axis passing at A(Figure 1) behlnd the heel 3011111. The inner ankle,wh1ch is situatednormally at B moves by this distortion in the direction of the arrow 50into the flat-foot position B and the leg together with the ankle willbe distorted inwardly.-

The apparatus embodying the invention consists essentially in means bywhich,-while avoiding an action upon the knee-joint, a distortion oftheankle of theflleg will be effected in such manner that the ankle willbe turned into the normal position. Accord ing to the present inventionthe said effect will be obtained in such way that a leverage produced bythe bodyweight of the patient will act upon a" splint, which is to befaste-ned on the leg and iscapable to be rocked at rlght angle to'thedirection of golng, in:

such way, that the said splint is allowed to rock in the manner of atogglelever 111 a direction oppositet-o the ankle, i. e. in "thedirection indicated by the arrow-y (Fig. 1), Whereas ajrocking in theother dii'ectionwill be prevented. By this means will be efiected that aleverage takes placeonly in'the desired direction, so that the leg(ankle) fixed by belts or sockets or by the shoe or the like to the saidsplint will be brought into the normal position and held fast inthejsame. The above mentioned effect will be still improved by arrangingthe splint so, as to be capable of rocking also in the direction ofgoing, whereby the natural turning motion of the foot in the ankle-jointon walking is not prevented. 3

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the operation oftheimproved apparatus. Figs. Zandiw ofthe annexed drawing show an apparatusaccording toithe present invention in two functional positions. Figs. 4:

and 5 show details. l

The leg of. the patient standsupon a base I Specification of Letterslatei t. Application filed. April 8, 1912. Serial No. 389,353. 1

example of a correcting ed o t. 20,1914.

1 which' rests only at. oneside and will in,

setting thefoot on ground contacting theq latter at firstxbythe edge 2.

' is a splint Whihisconnected at the lower end tothe foot treadl eitherrigidly" or by a, joint or the like so as to be capable of' adpisting atdifferent angles. The upper endof the said splint" 3, is connected by a:

joint 4 to anintermediate piece 5. The latter is connected by a hinge 6,which allows theturning of the splint in the direction of i going, to abar *7 which may be'secured to theleg, by, afrim 8 or a belt or socketor the like either rigidly or movably by a-hinge 9.

By the Weight of the patient the angular lever 1, 3 will be'rocked aboutthe edge Qjand the side bars 3, '7 about the hinge or'jointl in themannerwof a toggle'joint (Fig. 3).-

The belt or band 10-being applied around the ankle and secured at 11am12 byzmeans y e The angle position between the bar 3 and the bar 7 maybe. altered for example byan adjustable stop. In the example illustratedthe said adjustable'stop will be formed by a screw 6. which is passedthrough the hinge ,bolt The angle positionbetween the said Eparts'3 and?may also be alteredby'bend ing the bar 7 Moreover the angle positionbetween the fo'ot'tread 1 andfbar 3 may be alteredby ajointcapable ofbeing adjust-ed I and looked as by a joint provided with a stop'14 (Fig.5). The bar 3 may also be .re-

movably mounted on the'foot tread, as, for j instance, by being passedinto a suitable socket or recess as shown for example in Fig. 5,:thesaid parts may be arranged and connected in any other suitable manner.

The tilting edge 2 maybe shifted or adlengthening or shortening thelever justed by arm 1 for example in such manner, that the;

lever arm 1 isprovided with .a sliding part 13 which by moving in onedirection or the other eifects the lengthening or-shortening of the saidlever arm'(Fig. 4L).

Conveniently the hinge 4 is arranged above the hingeG, increasingthereby the defiection of the rocking toggle joint.-

As, (outer ankle) Fig. 1 is being moved from C to C by the oppositedistortion of the shank relatively to the foot (arrow y), the sameapparatus with reversed arrangement may be used for correction of theclub-foot.

I claim as my inventi0n 1. An orthopedic appliance for correcting footdeformations comprising a base or tread, and a supporting member for thebase connected therewith at one side and adapted to be secured to theleg, said member-being capable of bending and folding in a directionawayfrom the ankle and perpendicular to the direction of walking under theleverage exerted by the weight of the body causing the base to turnabout an edge thereofto exert pressure on the ankle at right angles tothe direction of walking.

2. An orthopedic appliance for correcting foot deformation comprising abase supported at one side, a memberradapted to be secured to the leg,-and forming with the base a toggle lever folding in a direction awayfrom the ankle and at right angles'to the direction of walking, andmeans to limit the folding of the toggle lever in the opposite directionsaid toggle lever being actuated by the weight of the body around one ofthe edges of the base. h

3. An orthopedic'a'ppliance for correcting footdeformations comprising abase supported at one side, a member adaptedto be secured to theleg,.and forming with the base a toggle lever, folding in a directionaway from the ankle and perpendicular to the direction of walking, saidtoggle lever beingactuated by the weight of the body around one of theedges of-the base and means permitting movement of the member secured tothe leg in the walking direction.

4. An orthopedic appliance for correcting foot deformations comprising abase or tread normally contacting with the ground only at its edgeadjacent one side of the foot,

in the case of a clulrfoot, the point C a bar or splint adapted to besecured to the leg, and connections between said tread and splintincluding two pivots extending substantially at right angles to eachother, the pivot allowing movement perpendicularly to the walkingdirection being arranged higher than the pivot allowing movement in thewalking direction.

5. An orthopedic appliance for correcting foot deformations of thecharacter referred to, comprising a base or tread normally contactingwith the ground only at its edge adjacent one side of the foot, a bar orsplint adapted to be secured to the leg, and connec tions between saidtread and splint including two pivots extending substantially at rightangles to each other, for the purpose describe 6. In an orthopedicappliance for correct ing foot deformations in which the Weight of thebody acts by leverage upon the de formity, the combination of a base orsupport, a bar adapted to be secured to the leg and connected with saidfoot support b} means I permitting away. from the ankle andperpendicular to the direction of walking. and an adjustable step forlimiting movement of the bar in the opposite direction.

7. In an orthopedic appliance for correct Ling foot deformations inwhich the weight of the body acts by leverage upon the de forinity thecombination of a base or support, a bar adapted to be secured to the legand connected with said foot support by means permitting movement of thebar away from the ankle and perpendicular to the direction of walkingand also movement of said bar in the walking direction, and an adjust-able stop for limiting movement of said bar toward the ankle.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses. i DR. OSKAR SEMELEDER.

Witnesses:

' l-luco Kern, A

ADA MARIA BERGER.

copies of this patent may be obtained for 'five cents each by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, .D. G. i

movement of the bar

